EHR systems improve patient care for cardiac patients

Electronic records improve care for cardiac conditions: Cardiac Science for the week of August 24

Mon, Aug 24, 2009 |

Heartsafe news: Our weekly update on what’s happening in the world of heart safety and noninvasive cardiology

Using EHR to improve quality of care for patients with heart conditions

An EHR study of 10 physician practices found that using electronic health records can improve quality of care for patients with chronic conditions including congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and hypertension. Healthcare IT News reported that at two of the clinics, the Geisinger Clinic and the University of Michigan Family Practice Group, the study found improvements in care for 29 of 32 conditions.

The study, conducted by the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, evaluated the use of a sophisticated EHR system to improve proactive care and coordinated care for chronic conditions that often lead to expensive emergency hospitalization. It also tested a pay-for-performance model for medical care. The University of Michigan practice found that in addition to making improvements in patient care, they achieved Medicare savings of $2.9 million.

School AEDs? Make sure they’re on the sidelines at every game

Earlier this month, 15-year-old Michael White collapsed on the football field during a scrimmage at Cary High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL.com reported that a doctor at the game performed CPR until an ambulance arrived and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to restore a normal heartbeat.

Upset by the incident, some in the community began asking if there could be ambulances standing by at all football games. But, as the county medical services director pointed out, it would require tying up half of the ambulances in the county just to cover Friday night games during the football season.

Emergency medicine experts in Wake County advised schools to rely on their AEDs (local North Carolina AED laws require Wake County Schools to have AEDs), and to have people with CPR and AED training on site for games and scrimmages. At the conclusion of WRAL.com’s story about the Cary High School incident and AEDs in sports, reporter Amanda Lamb reminded schools to take their AEDs to the sports fields during games.

Wake County experienced a heightened awareness of the need for public AEDs in 2006 when a prominent attorney collapsed and died in a county courtroom. At the time, there was no defibrillator available in the 12-floor courthouse building.

Ask our North Carolina AED expert Spiff Walsh for details.

Foundation donates AEDs for Arizona schools

Arizona will soon have more AEDs in schools. The Steven M. Gootter Foundation has announced that it will donate AEDs to public and private high schools in southern Arizona, as well as to the Tucson Boys and Girls Clubs and a local sports center. The University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center will provide training to staff of the schools and community centers. The foundation’s namesake, 42-year-old Tucsonan Steven M. Gootter, died after suffering cardiac arrest while jogging in February 2005.

Schools in the Tucson area were reminded of the need for on-site AEDs in April when an athletic trainer at Cienega high school used a defibrillator (a Powerheart AED G3) to revive a 17-year-old football player who collapsed after a weight training class. The school had purchased the defibrillator at the urging of the trainer, Deana Schneider, less than a year earlier.

Jonathan Rittenburg is our Arizona AED Expert; ask him for details.